1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless telecommunications and more particularly to wireless telecommunication antenna systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Wireless mobile stations, such as PCS and cellular telephones, WAP-enabled communication devices, personal digital assistants, IEEE 802.11 stations, cordless telephones, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), two-way mobile radios (e.g. FRS-band radios), portable messaging devices (e.g., “Blackberry” devices) and wireless computers, have become widely used in society today. Suitably equipped, such a mobile station may connect a user to a network over an air interface, thereby enabling the user to engage in many useful voice and data communications without the need for a landline connection.
The mobile station will communicate over the air interface with a base station. To facilitate this communication, both the mobile station and the base station will include a respective antenna system. Commonly, a mobile station will employ a whip antenna, and a base station will employ several directional antennas so as to establish a radiation pattern that can encompass the mobile station.
Mobile stations and base stations may communicate with each other over various 20 frequencies. For example, traditional cellular telephones and cellular telephone networks have operated on two frequency bands (the “A” and “B” bands) centered around the 800 or 900 MHz frequency. And as another example, PCS devices and PCS networks have used six frequency bands (“A” through “F”) centered around the 1800 or 1900 MHz frequencies. Other wireless communication systems and use of other frequencies for communication between a mobile station and a wireless network are possible as well.